NBC News unveils 'Signal' streaming news network_ NBC is launching a streaming news service called Signal on YouTube, Twitter, Pluto TV and more. It's starting with a weekly newscast and election coverage and will be a 24/7 stream by mid next year.

AT&T is beta testing an Android TV set-top box- AT&T is beta testing an Android TV device with the aim of making it available on a trial basis in the first half of next year. It has voice search, optical audio, USB and HDMI ports, but nothing known about it seems much different from other Android TV devices.

What to WatchRick and Morty’s head writer is making an animated Star Trek series- Rick and Morty head writer Mike McMahan has created an animated Star Trek Series for CBS called Below Decks. It follows “the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships.” Star Trek EP Alex Kurtzman wrote in a press release “Mike won our hearts with his first sentence: ‘I want to do a show about the people who put the yellow cartridge in the food replicator so a banana can come out the other end.’ His cat’s name is Riker. His son’s name is Sagan. The man is committed,”

Apple’s morning show drama adds Steve Carell to the cast- Steve Carrell has joined the cast of the TV series about a morning TV show being produced by Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Anniston for Apple. He’ll be playing Mitch Kessler, a morning show anchor who’s struggling to stay relevant.

Netflix Renews Disenchantment for Another 2-Part Season- Netflix announced that Matt Groening's Disenchantment has been renewed for another 20-episode seaosn. Keep in mind that right now only the first half of the first season is out and the halves come out in separate years so really they should probably just call it 4 seasons.

Reelgood acquires Guidebox to bring streaming TV data to more places- We've talked about Reelgood before, it aims to do what the Apple TV app does by combining all your services, in one interface to make it easy to decide what to watch next. Reelgood bought Guidebox, the streaming availability data provider which powers Roku, TVGuide, Metacritic and others.

AT&T satellite TV numbers disappoint, shares fall- AT&T's DirectTV lost 359,000 subscribers, more than expected. DirecTV Now, the streaming service added 49,000 vs the 296,000 it added a year ago. AT&T' s WarnerMedia, announced Friday that its FilmStruck streaming service will shut down on November 29th. This follows the shutdown of DramaFever as Warner Media prepares to launch a streaming service built around HBO and Turner networks.

We might be able to rate future films with a sniff test, study says- A research paper published in PLoS ONE by scientists from the Max Plank Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany have studied the exhaled air from theater-goers able to associate certain chemical compositions to certain kinds of scenes. Isoprene, a chemical we emit when we move around a lot was correlated with intense and stressful scenes. The next step is to see if they can determine different kinds of scenes based on different exhalations.

Dispatches from the FrontThis is two weeks in a row that you mentioned that The Expanse seasons 1 and 2 were not on Prime Video. Not true. They've been on PV at least since June as I was binging them back then. I checked to make sure they hadn't been droppped in the mean time and there still there for me.

Great to hear that season 3 is finally coming next month.

- Jake

Dear Tom and Brian,

I recently switched from my Apple TV device back to my Fire TV device, in anticipation of the release of the Fire TV Recast. I also re-subscribed to PlayStation Vue, after you mentioned last week the integration with both Apple TV's TV app and the Fire TV. Now, when I scroll down on the Fire TV home screen, I am presented with a list of what is playing live on PS Vue. I love that PlayStation Vue has become integrated with the actual interface, so that I can easily see what is playing without needing to open the Vue app and being locked into that sphere.

I am eagerly awaiting the Recast for live local broadcast programming. I have a HDHomeRun, Plex Pass, and a NAS for a DVR, but that setup doesn't pass the "wife test." I really hope Amazon has engineered the live TV setup with the Recast to be very intuitive to use, and not at all difficult or contrived. If so, this may be the final piece which integrates everything into one viewing experience.

Thanks for everything you do, and I'm glad I decided to start watching (and supporting) the show again. I had taken a little hiatus while I was subscribed to DirecTV lol.